Multinational Corps Northeast

Ladies and Gentlemen,

My name is Lieutenant General Rainer Korff. I am an officer of the German Army. As the Commander of the Multinational Corps Northeast, I have the privilege and honour to welcome you on our website, which will provide you with interesting articles and reports on the life of the Corps we call “Corps of the new Millennium”.

Multinational Corps Northeast was founded in Szczecin in 1999 by Denmark, Germany and Poland but throughout those years our family has significantly grown to eleven member states. Servicemen from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United States cooperate together as one team. This multinational character of the Corps is our everlasting pride. Exchange of professional experiences and learning about ones cultures is a valuable asset not only in day-to-day business, but also during missions. Therefore, our community is looking forward to welcoming other nations, too, which would like to become a member of the team.

Just a few months ago, we celebrated the 10th Anniversary of Multinational Corps Northeast. This event served as a good opportunity for summarizing the Corps’ achievements. And there were many of them, e.g. expanding multinational character, achieving Full Operational Capability as well as presenting excellent performance during the first Corps’ mission in Afghanistan in 2007. Keeping in mind that rich heritage, we are going to develop the Corps even more so that its role within the NATO family would be steadily growing.

Currently, our main focus and challenge for the upcoming months is the next mission in Afghanistan. In February 2010, more than a hundred MNC NE servicemen start their service at the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command in Kabul. We have completed a multi-stage process of preparations to meet high expectations and I am sure we will be at least as good as the last time. The personnel staying in Szczecin forming so-called “Garrison Headquarters” have their own task to complete, too – to run all current business of the Corps and serve as a link between Kabul and Szczecin. It is especially important for the families of the deployed personnel who are staying here. As a matter of fact, offering support to the families is one of the priorities for the “Garrison Headquarters” and “Family Care Centre” activated for the mission time.

As soon as the mission is over in the second half of 2010, our priority will be sharing gained experiences with other headquarters and commands. Acting as “Subject Matter Experts” experienced in the theatre will not release us from maintaining and enhancing high level of readiness and competence, though. For that reason, the Corps will follow a regular cycle of training and exercises. 

With these words, I would like to welcome you again. I hope you will be enchanted by the world of the Multinational Corps Northeast as we are and our website will become one of your favourites.